Copyright and Patent Reform

Everyone is part of the digital economy

David Cameron has today announced a crackdown on free pornography sites. In a statement he says that free porn "could be shut down within months" and "I want to see age restrictions put into place or these websites will face being shut down".

Cameron will likely use the same filters that were sold to the electorate as being there to prevent the distribution of images of child abuse. These were subsequently, almost immediately repurposed on behalf of the copyright lobby to prevent the free sharing of information on sites such as The Pirate Bay....

Controversial surveillance legislation that was pushed through Parliament in days has been found to be unlawful by the High Court. It was found that the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (DRIPA) failed to provide clear and precise rules to protect data and that the access is not authorised by a court and independent body.

Cris Chesha, Pirate Party UK leader and an IT industry veteran, believes that reshaping the core of digital technology itself can provide democratic emancipation. He explains that there is huge opportunity for technology to help address old problems that have, ironically, been accelerated by new technology: transparency, privacy, unequal ownership (of information) and inequality of access. One such opportunity, he says, is in developing the block chain, the encryption technology that is the basis of Bitcoin, the open-source currency. “The block chain is a means of storing information that cannot be hacked or altered,” says Chesha, “and because the information is decentralised and dispersed over a network, rather than accessed through one server, it is more robust.”

"A National Living Wage, starting at £7.20 and rising to £9 an hour by 2020, replaces the £6.50 minimum wage." -- BBC News

Obviously, any increase in the minimum wage is somewhat welcome news, no matter how small.

But as manipulation goes, you've got to hand it to George: this is a 10/10. Appropriating a term & redefining it for your own purposes is standard; but to rebrand "minimum wage" into "living wage" (without actually meeting the evidentially calculated Living Wage, obviously) is a spectacular power-play in 2015. It's already everywhere: "Living Wage of £7.20". "Osborne introduces the National Living Wage".

This is hopefully the first of a semi-regular "newsletter" letting you know what Piratey things people have been doing, and highlighting ways in which you can get more involved with the party. Whilst I have tried to put some sort of structure to this initially - it is *your* newsletter, and is meant to aid communication so please do let us know what's helpful, what's not - or what else you want included.

Feel like stepping up to have your say in how the show should be run? Nominations are now open for four National Executive positions and for the Board of Governors!

The positions that are available are Leader, Deputy Leader, Campaigns Officer and Secretary, as well as Governor (12 posts).

It's the first time in recent years that so many roles in the UK Pirate Party have been up for grabs. You can find out more about the work of the Leader’s Office here, about the Secretariat here, about the Campaigns team here, and about the Board of Governors here. All roles are important, and all of them will allow you to help shape the future of the Pirate movement in this country, though the Board roles are lighter in terms of time commitment. Since there is no major UK election in the next few years, it’s a great opportunity to rethink what we want the Pirate Party to achieve, and how we want to achieve it.

You can put forward your nomination for the NEC posts here and for the Board roles here. Remember that you will also need to be seconded by a member in good standing.

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.//Winston Churchill

Civil liberties are just like muscles. They must be exercised regularly in full, or they will weaken, wither, and atrophy.//Rick Falkvinge

What kind of rights and freedoms individuals will enjoy are the domain of the public, not the government in the dark.//Edward Snowden

Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.//Margaret Mead

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.//Albert Einstein

Your own acts and behaviour tell the world who you are and what kind of society you think it should be.//Ai Weiwei

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.//Edmund Burke

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. //Nelson Mandela

The Fine Print

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